Negotiation

Tang Qi saw wisps of gray-black magic, like mist, surge from the beautiful figure's body and coil around his soul, dragging him toward that terrifying world.

It was a realm filled with ill omen. There was no light, no brightness; everything was gray and dim. Vortex after vortex churned within it, twisting the realm and making it even more ominous, like the most dreadful nightmare.

Once trapped within it, he would never escape.

The only way was submission.

"Submit to me, and you will become a Child of Misfortune. You will possess the Power of Misfortune."

A dreamlike voice echoed through Tang Qi's mind.

A powerful urge climbed over him like poisonous vines, wrapping around Tang Qi's heart and making him want to yield, to kneel and offer eternal loyalty, to kiss the toes of the beautiful woman before him and become her lowliest slave.

In fact, Tang Qi's body had already been forced into a slow bow by the gray-black magic.

The utterly transformed Sally wore a contemptuous yet bewitching smile on her perfect face, enough to drive countless men mad and make them pay any price. She seemed to have foreseen Tang Qi kissing her toes.

He was merely a human boy who had just entered the supernatural. If the Spirit Tide had not only just returned, she would never have taken an interest in him.

Yet from an angle she could not see, Tang Qi slowly closed his eyes. As Information Fragments streamed past him, he activated his skill and ignited a... sun.

Encountered Misfortune Magic!

Slave of Misfortune transformation in progress!

Target identified as a Transcendental Human!

Conducting magic level assessment!

Unique Furnace Power overflowing!

Assessment passed!

Transformation failed!

Boom

Sizzle—

It was like throwing a red-hot iron into thick snow. The snow did not melt entirely, but around Tang Qi, who had become a Golden Sun, the wisps of gray-black Misfortune Magic vanished at an utterly terrifying speed.

The dark-elf-like girl's absurdly disdainful expression froze before she began to scream. The gray mist that had gently coiled around him instantly turned into terrifying whips, which lashed madly at Tang Qi's body at a frequency that seemed ready to tear eardrums apart.

And her scream was filled with an ominousness that utterly crushed that of the Dugong Sea Demon.

"Child of the Furnace, damn inheritance of the Master of the Furnace! Weren't disgusting things like you exterminated in the Great Cataclysm of the last era?"

"Why? Why are you still clinging to life on the Star of Origin like rats? You hid beside me so early, and now you want to destroy another one of my incarnations. I will not let you succeed."

"Die! Die, all of you!"

This sudden change left even Tang Qi, the "instigator," momentarily unable to react.

But it was not difficult to extract some astonishing information from the words of the Witch Sub-Personality, who had transformed into a crazed girl.

The Golden Furnace Meditation Method had an extraordinary origin!

It bore a grudge against Witches from another world!

The Witch had misunderstood the purpose behind his approach!

And finally, she was afraid.

Just as a beast would do everything in its power to display its strength when threatened.

The Witch Sub-Personality was not human.

Yet Tang Qi still sensed her emotions at that moment. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do now.

To become the Golden Furnace, he had to remain in a meditative state.

Tang Qi could not determine whether he could defeat the Misfortune Witch's Sub-Personality if he left meditation and relied solely on Furnace Power.

He had not tried, but Tang Qi knew his odds of winning would not be high.

Perhaps Furnace Power and Misfortune Magic were of the same supernatural level.

But Tang Qi was not truly some so-called Child of the Furnace. He had merely obtained the Meditation Method, without any accompanying inheritance, and he had not practiced it for long.

His opponent, however, was a pure fragment of the Misfortune Witch, magic severed from the true body of an Otherworldly Deity. It had dwelled within Sally, and after more than a decade of nurturing, it had given birth to a Witch Sub-Personality capable of perfectly wielding that Misfortune Magic.

If he left the "Golden Furnace" state, Tang Qi suspected he would be dismembered in an instant.

It was incredible, but the two of them had indeed reached a stalemate.

Even more unbelievably, Tang Qi knew that if the stalemate continued, he would regain the upper hand.

Before entering meditation, among the Information Fragments revealed by his Special Ability,

there had been one such fragment:

Before the time limit expired, if the Witch failed to capture a suitable Slave of Misfortune, she would face two choices: forcibly merge with the Main Personality to break the seal, though that would bring unpredictable consequences, or be sealed away again to await the next suitable opportunity.

Countdown: three minutes.

The information revealed by this fragment was that, after more than a decade, the primary seal on the Misfortune Magic was no longer that pair of glasses, but Sally herself, the "container." As a Sub-Personality, the Misfortune Witch had only two options: break the container or merge with it.

As an Otherworldly Deity, she certainly would not allow herself to be assimilated by a human girl, so her choice was obvious.

Sure enough, Tang Qi's prediction became reality.

The crazed Witch quickly calmed down. She stared at Tang Qi, whose eyes were shut and whose body radiated Golden Flame. Her brows furrowed slightly, while the wreath atop her head bloomed with increasingly enchanting Black Flowers, growing ever more ominous.

At their side, the glasses in Mrs. Hudson's hand trembled faintly, as though they might fly back onto Sally's nose at any moment.

She knew even more clearly than Tang Qi did.

And there were things Tang Qi did not know. For instance, she had a third option: transform Mrs. Hudson beside them into a Slave of Misfortune. But that carried risks as well. Hudson was merely an ordinary old woman and might die outright during the transformation.

Now, the Misfortune Witch had fallen into a disadvantage.

She would absolutely not choose the first option, merging with Sally. This was the first time she, as a Sub-Personality, had taken control of this body. Once they merged, she would likely be devoured directly by Sally, the Main Personality. At that point, she would no longer be the Misfortune Witch, but a Witch wielding powerful ominous magic.

But the second option was even less possible. Returning to the seal meant Tang Qi could survive. Then, a Transcendental Human could deal with a girl utterly incapable of resisting him; the outcome was easy to imagine.

A powerful Sub-Personality born from magic originating from an Otherworldly Deity!

Yet she had fallen into a disadvantage during a confrontation with a boy who had only recently entered the Supernatural Realm?

It was unbelievable, but it had become reality.

"Misfortune wanders along the same road, sometimes descending upon one person, sometimes upon another. Yet it has always favored me. Only when the incarnation of Supreme Fate appears again can I break free from their backlash and become the sole Goddess of Fate."

"Before I break free, since I cannot resist, then I shall compromise."

"My true self surely cannot imagine that I would choose to... negotiate with a Child of the Furnace."

After dreamily reciting that prophecy, the gray-black mist filling the entire Fitting Room suddenly surged and withdrew into Sally's body. Then, the body controlled by the Witch Sub-Personality suddenly stepped forward, her soft, warm lips pressing directly against Tang Qi's forehead.

A ring of gray mist rippled outward, and a bewitching voice filled with ill omen sounded in Tang Qi's mind.